The Mouvement Citoyens Genevois (MCG) wants employers to show that they cannot find a local candidate before employing a foreign national living in a border country, in Geneva’s case mainly France. Supplementing the article in Switzerland’s federal constitution on mass immigration, the initiative dubbed “Frontaliers : stop!” will require employers to show that there are […]
Polar chill to sweep across Switzerland next week
An arctic weather system could bring Switzerland’s coldest winter snap since February 2012, says the weather service MeteoNews. France, Scandinavia, Russia and also the UK and Italy are likely to feel the chill too. Heating of air in the arctic stratosphere has upset the normal flow of weather. Winds in Europe typically blow off the […]
How one Swiss town rewards long-time married couples
By Bill Harby Upon their 50th wedding anniversary, Pierrette and Lucien Erard received an unexpected surprise: a big bouquet of flowers from the government of the town of Neuchâtel. “It’s always nice to receive a gift, especially when it’s unexpected, and from the government of my hometown”, said Madame Erard. “I was also surprised by […]
Geneva to Zurich for half the price of a Swiss train
Switzerland’s transport authority (OFT) recently gave Domo Swiss Express SA, a Zurich-based bus company, a green light to run three routes across Switzerland. The first will run from Zurich to Lugano, via Basel and Luzern, the second from St. Gallen to Geneva airport, via Zurich and Bienne, and the third from Chur to Sion, via […]
Coop boycotts 150 Nestlé products over price disagreement
According to Swiss broadcaster RTS, Swiss retailer Coop, along with five other members of AgeCore SA, a Geneva-based purchasing alliance, have decided to boycott a large number of Nestlé products in the hope of striking a better deal on price. Sales to AgeCore SA members, which include Coop in Switzerland, Intermarché in France, Edeka in […]
High Swiss emissions – the impact of imports and population growth
Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office has come up with a new greenhouse gas emissions figure for Switzerland, which includes emissions from imports. The idea is that emissions related to a computer made in China but bought by someone in Switzerland belong to Switzerland rather than China. Adding this in takes Swiss per capita emissions from 4.9 […]
Roger Federer becomes oldest world number one
The 36-year-old Swiss tennis player beat Robin Haase in the Rotterdam Open to replace 31-year-old Rafael Nadal at the top of the ranking. .@rogerfederer rewrites history in Rotterdam: With his victory today, Federer has now surpassed Andre Agassi to become the oldest World No. 1 in ATP history! ?????1️⃣ ?: #USOpen pic.twitter.com/3ROFU0wfao — US Open […]
Vaud – vote on divisive dental tax and care plan
On 4 March 2018, voters in Vaud will vote on a plan to provide basic universal dental care funded by a tax on salaries. The initiative entitled: Reimbursement of dental care, Pour le remboursement des soins dentaires in French, claims that 10% of the population avoid the dentist because of the cost. They also claim links […]
Geneva – new technology for catching illegally parked cars now active
The new system for catching cars parking illegally is a specially equipped car that can automatically identify 500 to 1,000 illegally parked cars an hour, compared to 10 by an agent, according to RTS. Tested in 2016, the Scan Car swung into operation across the city last week. A new model of the vehicle will […]
Switzerland tops latest financial secrecy index
While Switzerland isn’t the most financially secretive nation in the Tax Justice Network’s recently published report, its combination of size and secrecy pushed it into first place, the worst rank in the Financial Secrecy Index 2018. Size is factored in because it measures the damage a nation’s financial secrecy has on the world, says The Tax […]
